ACCESS Practice Soccer- 2020

Last updated almost 6 years ago

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ACCESS Speaking Practice- WIDA

Hamm played forward during her time on the U.S. national team. The forwards on a soccer team are expected to score the most goals because they are a team’s main offense. They play closest to the opposite team’s goal. Hamm helped the U.S. national team win the World Cup tournaments of 1991 and 1999. The U.S. women finished third in the 1995 and 2003 World Cup tournaments, and they won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics. The team won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004, which was the year Hamm retired from playing competitively. By the time she retired, Hamm had set the world record for most goals in international competition, male or female. She had scored 158 goals!

Hamm was widely admired for being a well-rounded, competitive player who could score many goals. As the star of the U.S. women’s team, she helped bring popularity to the U.S. women’s national team that had never existed before. During the 1999 Women’s World Cup, jerseys with Hamm’s number 9 were top sellers. At the time, her popularity was comparable to some of the most famous male athletes of any sport. 

Though Hamm is no longer playing competitively, she is still a popular figure. Hamm has stayed very involved in soccer. For example, she has co-owned the Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer since 2014.
Mia Hamm has helped women’s soccer grow to its current popularity, and she continues to inspire young people today.